It’s not nearly as bad as James Dolan/Charles Oakley with the Knicks, but the 49ers haven’t necessarily tapped into resources of their former stars of late.
But that’s something new General Manager John Lynch wants to change, saying he asked owner Jed York specifically about the involvement of alumni when he interviewed for the job.
“That was one thing that maybe I had heard, that guys maybe didn’t feel welcome,” Lynch said, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I said, ‘I have to have it that these guys are not only welcome, but encouraged. That’s what we’re aspiring to be.
“So the more we can have them around, the better, to me. I got that assurance. My conversations with those guys — we can’t ride their coattails, we’ve got to do it on our own. But it sure helps to have a great example right in front of us.”
Former 49ers quarterback Steve Young said the past never seemed to be a priority for the current administration, dating back to the split when power over the team went from Eddie DeBartolo Jr. to his sister Denise DeBartolo York.
“I think people also need to recognize that when the split happened — when Eddie lost the team and Denise got the team — there was tremendous acrimony between the parties,” Young said during an interview on KNBR in January. “And so the past — that 49er past — is gingerly embraced, . . . They’re looking to win Super Bowls into the future. . . . They are certainly not looking to recreate the 49ers of the 80s and 90s. It’s just not part of the future.”
But Lynch recalled playing for Bill Walsh at Stanford, and what he gained from visits from 49ers greats such as Joe Montana and Ronnie Lott. So while there’s a fine line between being stuck in the past and having a healthy relationship with it, it seems Lynch wants to help rekindle relationships with some guys who have actually won games there.